Apple and Steve Jobs

The cover story in USA Today caught my attention this evening. Jobs, the CEO and co-founder of Apple announced that he will be taking a medical leave of absence. The part of the story that struck me was how iconic Jobs was to Apple and questioning how the company would thrive without its CEO. Part of being a leader is making sure that the people you lead can continue to work in your absence. When stories get published that say "Apple will chug along for years, but it may not burn so bright" it concerns me. Shouldn't the Apple company be the Apple company with or without Jobs? Is there some quality that he has brought to the company or is he micro-managing to the point where he has to be present for this company to continue the way Apple has been progressing? This article seems to imply that without Jobs, the company may not be able to come up with something new. While Tim Cook will be taking over the day-to-day operations, Jobs will still be involved with the major decisions. If Jobs is the only one developing new products, coming up with the innovations and making the decision about whether to make a cellphone or a tablet, how will this company work without Steve Jobs. Yes there have been medical leaves in the past, but Jobs has been there to "reposition Apple from a niche player in the desktop market to a leading purveyor to tech-cool PCs and portable entertainment devices..." What happens when Jobs is no longer around to make those decisions or innovations? Shouldn't a leader take that into consideration and plan for when a new leader must take over?